blackwater

On Monday, a federal judge sentenced four Blackwater contractors for their roles in the Nisour Square massacre, giving one man life in prison and three others 30 years each, The New York Times reports.

All four Blackwater security guards on trial for the deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad's Nisour Square have been found guilty by a federal jury, concluding a 11-week trial. The group was charged with the killings of 14 Iraqis and injuring 17 others.

According to a damning new report by the New York Times, a Blackwater project manager in Iraq threatened to kill a State Department official conducting a review of the security contractor. This threat was reportedly made just weeks before the 2007 shootings in Baghdad's Nisour Square, where Blackwater guards shot and killed 17 civilians.

The criminal enterprise formerly known at Blackwater USA, Xe Services, is perhaps best known for murdering civilians and ripping America off for hundreds of millions of dollars and getting away with it. Now, after rebranding itself as a "peacekeeping and humanitarian" force (ha), the company is moving up to the D.C. area to kiss some ass and win some contracts. According to the AP: "Xe Services says 20 people will move from Moyock, N.C., to Arlington to foster relationships with customers in and around Washington." Oh God.

Remember Erik Prince, the creepy former CEO of mercenary firm Blackwater (now called Xe), who fled the United States for the United Arab Emirates after selling his company? What's that zany dude up to now? Oh, just forming a mercenary army at the behest of the United Arab Emirates' autocratic crown prince, with the tacit approval of the U.S. government.

Unaccountable mercenary firm Blackwater had a big plan to get into the Somali pirate-fighting business a couple of years ago, according to a newly released Wikileaks document. The problem: Blackwater actually sounded worse than the Somali pirates.

Xe Services, the mercenary group formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, has agreed to pay $42 million in fines for violating US weapon export laws. No big deal though, since the market for mercenaries in Iraq and Afghanistan is still booming.

The Nationreports that creepy Blackwater owner Erik Prince, who has abruptly put his company up for sale, may move to the UAE, which has no extradition treaty with the United States. He hasn't been charged with any crimes, yet.

Have you ever wanted to control your very own private army, and make a killing by killing people? Now you can, because the company formerly known as Blackwater USA, Xe, is up for sale, with a proshop included! [AP]

Nobody knows exactly how big this oil spill is, but one thing is certain: BP's public relations effort has been disastrous. Even the PR guy for Xe Services, the mercenary company formerly known as Blackwater, thinks BP has bungled it.

Erik Prince, the former head of mercenary outfit Blackwater USA, stopped by his hometown in Michigan to give a speech yesterday. He said the real threat to American values is not Al Qaeda or the Taliban, it's the US government!

First Goldman Sachs gets a lawsuit from the SEC, now prosecutors have indicted a former Blackwater president and four other former employees on weapons charges. Details are not yet clear. But who knows where this Federal justice train will stop.

Click to viewThe funny thing about this clip (from the upcoming season premiere) of South Park's Eric Cartmen asking for, and receiving, 500 AK-47s, is that it is based on a real thing that Blackwater did in Afghanistan.

Just the latest outrageous allegation against Blackwater, the prosecution-proof mercenary army that somehow ran amok whilst doing the work of god and country overseas: they billed you, the taxpayer, for the services of a prostitute, allegedly. For morale purposes!

Blackwater, that private army of God, allegedly shot 17 people dead in Baghdad's Nisour Square in 2007. This did not go over so well. The Justice Department is to investigate allegations they followed up with $1m in bribes to try and keep their Iraqi contracts. [NYT]

Maybe Blackwater founder Erik Prince really is a "Christian crusader" protected by God, because a judge throwing out what seemed like a rock-solid case against five mercenaries for the manslaughter of 14 unarmed civilians is nothing short of a miracle.

The world's shocked and appalled by news and photos that private security forces guarding the American embassy in Kabul, act like pre-teen cave men. Here's something that won't improve the situation: the government's known all along!